Young Buck All In Wth G-Unit, Talks New Album & LiL Kim,

[1 And Only Shady Shan.]

Monday, 12 November 2007
Young Buck is definitely all in with the G-Unit. He's been working on their December release, Shoot to Kill, but Mr. Ten-A-Key is also working on his own compilation — Young Buck Presents: Product of the South.

"I'm establishing me right now," he said of his Cashville Records. "I signed C-Bo from the West Coast, as well as my own group, 615 — that's me, a cat by the name Lil' Murder and High-C. I said, 'I'll drop a [compilation] album.' ... That'll be the bridge to their project. Everybody is going to get a single and a video."



Buck's label is independent. "I'm sure you know these labels ain't really giving a lot of money out to start a situation," he explained. "What I did was create my own buzz pretty much promoting G-Unit South. I wanted to name my label G-Unit South, but I knew [Interscope Records Chairman] Jimmy [Iovine] wasn't going to let any other label have the luxury of having the name G-Unit. ... [So] I wanted to start something fresh, brand new, create a whole new brand."

Buck released "Driving Down the Freeway" with the Outlawz and says he's actually picking up jewels from them.

"It's an even thing," he said. "It's more me being quiet and learning off of them sometimes. It's things in the game they been through and I haven't learned yet. It's a learning process. They bring a lot to the table on their own. I'm just pretty much bringing their career more to the forefront. I feel that the Outlawz as well as C-Bo never got their just due."

The unabashed Southerner feels the same way about himself. "I ain't get what I deserved at Interscope," he said. "I feel my album [Buck the World] is better than Kanye's album and 50's album, but it's one of the most slept-on albums due to whatever reason. I'm still trying to get what I deserve off of Interscope, so it's still a hustle to me."

Buck noted that he and 50 are on great terms, and when and if 50 leaves the 'Scope for free agency, Buck and the rest of G-Unit will be with him.

"All of us are signed to G-Unit," Buck said. "If 50 goes, we all go. I stand behind Interscope with all the power I can. I'm sure there's a lot of people that put in as much work as they could for Young Buck and the G-Unit crew, but it's a lot of people that won't too. At the end of the day, I can only speak specifically on mine. As far as the marketing, I don't think they knew how to market a project such as mine. When you have a song like 'Get Buck' and 'You Ain't Going Nowhere,' there's no lane. You can't just market me to the South. I'm worldwide. I come with the Southern background but worldwide flow. They have to understand how big I aim outside of 50 Cent to get the push from them. I'm still in the shadow of 50 to them, but to the streets, I'm Young Buck. I'm my own person. I just gotta get my label to understand that part."

Now to the scandalous: Everyone is quiet familiar with 50's line in "Fully Loaded Clip," in which he raps, "When Trina was telling [Lil] Wayne, 'I love you, boo'/ She was running games, she told Buck that too." Buck insists it's all gospel.

"It's the truth, it's the f---ing truth! 50 is not f---ing lying," Buck proclaimed. "You want me to tell you the truth? I'mma tell you the truth. I was messing with her while she was messing with [Wayne]. I would hear him on the phone [in the background] every now and then while she's laying right there. She knows it. 50 ain't doing nothing but speaking the truth."

So what about Lil' Kim? There is Internet footage of the Queen Bee grinding all over Young Buck onstage, then she has miraculously mended all beef with 50.

"She's cool," he downplayed, all of a sudden getting shy. "She came out onstage, hollered a couple of times. At the end of day, she's doing her, and I'm doing me. ... Ask Lil' Kim what she thinks of Young Buck. What do I think of Lil' Kim? She's cool."

He says the same about Byrd Gang leader Jim Jones. The two of them are cool in a way different way from him and Kim, of course, but cool nonetheless.

"I never had a problem with Jim Jones," Buck said. "Jim Jones visited my city a long time ago and saw what type of individual I was. That was the bridge for 50 Cent to even say, 'OK, I'mma see what's up with Jim.' Me and Jim was on the same page. Jim is about getting his paper, that's what it really is about. It's all about keeping it real too. That was my issue with Lil Wayne and all them: Keep it real with the real n---as. You come around stealing our swagger. What y'all see, the bling-bling and all that, they stole all that from Cashville. It's hard for me to explain all this sh-- because they know what the truth is. It'll get more interesting as it goes."